Breaking out in hives, allegra/zyrtec did not work. Can a gluten free diet help ?

I have been breaking out in hives for the past month and allegra/zyrtec did not work. i am waiting for my rx to come in the mail but in the mean time how can i get rid of these FAST? they re keeping me up at night and are so ugly and itchy. I m 20 and have seasonal allergies, but am not sure if these are a result from an allergic reaction or stress (college student, recent bad breakup). Also, could this mean I need a gluten free diet?

Hello,
You clearly are very stressed out in life now so things are not helping.
The condition is urticaria, that does get difficult to manage with allegra/zyrtec if you are stressed as well. If these hives are definitely after eatinh wheat products, then a blood test while on normal diet for IgA-TTG can help to decide if you have coeliac disease. If the test is positive, then yes, gluten-free diet is the treatment
Otherwise, you have to persevere with the antihistamines for 4-6 weeks and eventually they will stop. You can ask your doctor for a 5 days course of prednislone/deflazacort if you are in real trouble.
Thanks.

Answered: Tue, 30 Oct 2012

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